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Author : S. Kortunov
Head, World Politics Chair, Department of World Economy and World Politics, State University-Higher
School of Economics, Professor, Doctor of Sciences (Political Sciences)
IN 2008, RUSSIA INITIATED a new comprehensive European
Security Treaty designed, as President of Russia Dmitry
Medvedev put it, to consolidate the Euro-Atlantic region as a
whole on the basis of uniform rules of the game to move toward
a single security expanse on the continent without dividing lines.
In the last twenty years the world has changed beyond recognition
which inevitably affected the European security system; its trans-
formation has become one of the points on the international
agenda. Indeed, there are new challenges and threats; there is
globalization, a crisis of global governance and of the security
mechanisms for that matter.
President Medvedev's suggestions were prompted, among other things, by the crisis of
American leadership. It has become abundantly clear, that so far the U.S. attempts at setting
up an American world order have failed. A world order that offers no alternatives has no
future: the subjects of international relations will rebuff the attempts to impose it even
more resolutely than before.
In the last twenty years it has gained a lot of political and economic weight to claim a role
and place in Europe that would fully correspond to the potential it can apply to the key is-
sues of European security. This is quite logical and well justified: Russia is no longer a pas-
senger on board a ship of European securityas an equal team member it should be given
a place matching its newly-acquired economic and political potential.
Europe should abandon its NATO-centrism and revise its biased or even apprehensive
treatment of Russia. We should always bear in mind, however, that the United States as
the central actor of European security has a final say on the issue.
Russia should travel its part of the road and revise its negative treatment of NATO on a
number of issues. Its relations with the Alliance should be freed for their ideological burden
in the context of Russia's broader and pragmatic approach to all international processes
both in Europe and outside it and the correctly interpreted national interests.
Having laid an agenda for Greater Europe on the table Russia demonstrated that it is ready
for partnership. It is for the West to act.
Uniform Rules for the Euro-Atlantic Region